


Missing You

by Bickymonster



Series: Missing Trilogy [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, M/M, Mpreg, No Sex, Restraints, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2017-12-12 18:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/814846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bickymonster/pseuds/Bickymonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Copyright notice - While all characters, ideas and creations from the Original Harry Potter works remain copyrighted by JKRowling, and she retains all legal rights to them; I do claim copyright on the original characters, ideas and creations within this story that are entirely my own and full permission is required if you wish to publish or use them anywhere else.</p><p> <br/>Part 1/3 - Albus becomes very worried when Scorpius suddenly stops writing over the summer. When Scorpius then doesn't turn up for their 6th year at Hogwarts Albus asks his father to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

Harry always felt awkward on the rare occasions he had visited Malfoy Manor, uncomfortable with the memories of the past haunting him even more closely that they already did on a daily basis. His visits had become more frequent in recent years due to the close friendship the younger of his two sons, Albus, had forged with Draco’s son, Scorpius.  

The bond the two boys had had been a most unexpected and initially awkward for various members of their respective families; but it was quickly clear that they were inseparable and had every intention of remaining that way, and they all learned to be at least civil for their sake.

Today though he was here to speak with Scorpius’ mother, Astoria Malfoy, and he was hoping that Draco was at work so that they could speak privately. He knocked sharply on the large heavy wooden doors using the ancient, yet pristine metal door knocker. He didn’t have to wait more than a few seconds before the doors swung open and a small elf bowed, welcoming him into the entrance hall.

“Harry,” Astoria greeted as she made her way over to him. She offered him a hand to shake and Harry noted that the smile on her face seeming to be genuine, “Draco is out at work, but can I help you at all?”

Harry shook the hand she offered and returned the smile. “Actually that is probably best; it was you I was hoping to speak to.” he told her.

“Really?" She asked, clearly surprised. "Well do come in, would you like some tea?” She offered, the polite hostess as always; she might not have been born a Malfoy but she had become very good at being one.

“No, this shouldn’t take long, but perhaps we can sit?” Harry suggested.

“Of course.” She agreed and indicated for him to follow her.

Astoria showed him into a fairly small room just off the entrance hall; but despite its modest size it still had the expensive and grand feel that went with all things Malfoy and made Harry feel uncomfortably like he was probably going to break something. It was furnished with two grand but comfortable looking chairs and a very old looking mahogany coffee table, and the focus of the room was a large stone fireplace with a grand painting of Malfoy Manor hanging above it.

“So what is it you wanted to ask, Harry?” Astoria asked. She had taken a seat in one of the chairs and had a cup of tea in her hand, which presumably an elf had brought to her while Harry was taking in the room.

"Right, of course, sorry." Harry apologised, remembering the reason for his visit. He took a seat on the edge of the other chair; leaning forward slightly, his hands linked together and his elbows on his knees. “I was hoping you could clear up the matter of Scorpius’ current location.” he asked somewhat bluntly.

It was three weeks into the start of Albus’ and Scorpius’ sixth year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry but almost every other day Albus had been writing increasingly distressed letters home asking his father to find out why Scorpius had not returned to school.

Harry had, after the third letter from his son, conferred with the school but they were equally as confused by the boys absence and had already reported it to the ministry. However it was not compulsory for all wizarding children to attend the school, so while records for attendance, or lack thereof, were kept, the ministry would not get involved.

“I’m sorry?" Astoria asked, obviously confused by the question. "I don’t understand. He is at Hogwarts.” Her perpetual calm seemed to be disappearing before Harry’s very eyes. “Isn’t he?” she managed to ask after a few moments.

That Scorpius' own mother was oblivious to his absence was a worrying development and definitely not the news he had been hoping for. Harry was beginning to wonder if he should have listened to Al when he had first said something was wrong.

Albus had first expressed concerns about his friend when Scorpius, apparently suddenly, stopped responding to his letters about a month into the summer, but Harry had assumed that they had just had a disagreement and would work things out, most likely when they both returned to Hogwarts and could talk in person. Though he had to admit it was definitely odd given how often the boys had insisted on seeing each other during previous summers; this whole situation was decidedly odd.

“I am not quite sure what to tell you.” Harry spoke slowly and looked directly into the fearful eyes in front of his, as he realised he was going to have to tell this woman that he, nor anyone else that he knew of, had any idea where her son was. “Scorpius never arrived at Hogwarts, no-one even saw him get on the train at Kings Cross.”

“What…?" She asked, blinking a couple of times, "You have to be mistaken,  no…” She looked slightly faint and was shaking badly enough that she had to put her tea down on the table, her breath was rapid and seemed to catch in her throat, “No there has to be a mistake, Draco said he put him on the train.”

Harry resisted the sigh he felt, he had so hoped that Draco wasn’t going to be involved in whatever it was that was going on.  “Well, I think we need to talk to your husband then.” He stated.

“Please, let me speak to him first," Astoria requested, clearly shaken. "Let him explain to me what is going on, I am sure there must be an explanation.” Astoria was all but begging as she moved to sit on the edge of her seat, leaning towards Harry slightly. “Please.”

Harry gave her a calculating look, “Hmm… very well… BUT… I will expect to hear from you by ten am tomorrow with a full explanation or else I will arrest Draco and get search warrants.” Harry warned sternly, meeting her eyes with a look that made it clear he was not messing around.

Harry rose from his seat and did not bother to say any goodbyes as he left a still trembling Mrs Malfoy to her thoughts. He needed time with his thoughts too; why would Draco tell such a lie to Astoria, let her believe her son was at Hogwarts when he wasn’t; it didn’t make much sense at all and Harry had that nagging feeling that he was missing a key piece of the puzzle.

Harry had a few ideas for the excuses Draco was likely to try and use if he was hiding something, which now seemed more than likely, and he was going to be ready to challenge his former school rival on any story he tried to spin. Harry's first point of call was going to be to speak to his contacts at the worlds other magical schools, just to be sure that Scorpius was not in attendance at one of them but Harry had a bad feeling he was going to need those search warrants he had warned Astoria about, come the morning.

An hour after his conversation at the Manor, he was to be found at his desk, the files containing the documentation for all the Malfoy properties open in front of him. If he was going to have to start a search for the Scorpius he wanted to know where he was going to have to start.

##

Harry was suddenly jerked awake by a knock at the door; he looked around sleepily, removed the piece of paper that had stuck to his cheek and shook his arms to return feeling to them. He cursed, he hadn’t meant to fall asleep and was quite sure that he would be getting an ear full from Ginny when he finally found time to go home; other all nighter at the office was not the way to get into her good books.

“Come in.” he called out once he had made himself vaguely presentable and he was only half surprised when the familiar blond walked through the door. “Draco? Erm…hi.” Harry indicated a vacant seat across the desk from him, for the other man to sit in.

“Eloquent as always, and no thank you, I will not be staying long.” Draco’s face was expressionless but he met Harry’s eye. “I just came to inform you that Scorpius will no longer be attending Hogwarts and that you can stop looking for him, also I kind request that you stay away from my wife.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, hoping it was sufficient to express his dissatisfaction with Draco’s so called explanation.

“He has been enrolled in another school, which is no business of yours or the ministry’s.” Without waiting for a response from Harry, Draco swept out of the room, his robes billowing in a way that Harry was sure he must have learned from Snape.

Harry made no attempt to follow him but sighed at the knowledge that his instincts had been right again, he was going to need those warrants. He had already received confirmation from all the schools that they had no new students in attendance matching Scorpius’ age or description.

Harry had so desperately wanted the Malfoys to give him a real explanation, for there to be a simple answer to all his questions, but had to accept that he was just being fed more of the usual lies. He had promised his son that he would find Scorpius and he was even more determined to do so now that Draco had made him so suspicious.

##

Three days later the warrants were finally approved, he knew there was not a lot of evidence that anything was wrong but Harry was able to use his name and influence to get enough of the Wizengamot to sign off on it.

There were four properties owned by the Malfoys, including Malfoy Manor, Harry had warrants for all of them but given Astoria’s belief that her son was at school it seemed unlike he would be at their main residence.  Two of the other properties were supposedly occupied and Harry assigned members of his department who he trusted to them, but it was the final property which Harry assigned himself to.

It was the smallest of the properties by a significant margin, a flat in central London. It had been usually rented out but had been listed as a vacant property for about 6 months.

He had written to Albus to let him know that the warrants had been approved and that the Malfoy properties were going to be raided. He offered his assurances that he would find Scorpius and that he would let him know as soon as he knew anything.

##

Albus had struggled to settle back into being at school, he missed Scorpius and he was worried about him. He still didn’t believe that the other boy would ever abandon him like this, not without a good reason and an explanation.

At least his dad seemed to be taking his concerns seriously at last; he had spoken with Scorpius’ parents and was waiting for warrants to search the Malfoy properties, according to the letter he had received the day before.

The young Potter boy was sitting sideways on one of the large sofas in front of the common room fire, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting against the back of the seat. His family were giving him their usual worried looked from their various locations around the room, and as usual he was doing his best to ignore them.

##

It was early morning when Albus woke up to the hooting of his father’s owl, from the back of the sofa. Apparently he had fallen asleep where he sat, something he was making a habit of.

“A letter? Thanks.” Albus took the parchment from the owl, apologising for the lack of treats he had to offer.

The owl hooted softly at him again before disappearing out of the open window that Albus supposed he must have come in through. He turned his attention back to his letter and pulled it open; his father’s handwriting looked hurried, but he never had great penmanship, so that wasn’t really an indication of anything much.

_Albus,_

_Warrants approved this morning, will be raiding Malfoy properties today. I have a feeling about a London flat they have, so I am going to go to that one myself. I am sure we will find him soon, I will let you know as soon as I know anything._

_Love Dad_

He knew that flat, Scorpius had pointed it out to him when they had been exploring London a few years back. Albus felt waves of relief wash over him; finally he was going to get some answers. He folded up the letter, putting it safely into his back pocket of his jeans, as he got to his feet.

He had been thinking of going for a walk round the lake, but he was starting to get ideas of going out to Hogsmead and floo-ing to London, desperate thoughts of seeing Scorpius taking over his brain.

##

Harry apparated into an alley not far from the London flat, it was not a warm day but there was no rain and the sun was shining, he would walk the last five minutes to the Malfoy property. He was suspecting that it was going to take many of the advanced spells he had learnt in his Auror training to get past the flats defences, but found that it was actually far easier than he had expected and was inside in less than five minutes.

It was dark and quiet inside, Harry found himself feeling relieved not to have found Draco there, that would have been an awkward confrontation.

“Lumos.” He muttered, quietly summoning the magical light.

There was a living room off to the left, Harry put his head around the door. It was almost as dark as the hallway, the heavy curtains blocking the outside street and the suns glow from view. It was a relatively small room with very little furniture, just a sofa and a table, on which there were several open books, as well as a bottle of some, presumably alcoholic, amber liquid and a glass; apparently someone had been here recently.

Having confirmed the room was empty he checked the kitchen with was on the opposite side of the hall. There were signs that someone was living in the flat here too, dishes in the sink and a small amount of food in the fridge. The kitchen was like the living room, simple and clean, void of any personal items.

The bathroom was behind the door next to the kitchen and, while empty, had the tell tale signs of recent use. Harry was not sure if he was expecting to find anyone in the last room at the end of the corridor, which he was now assuming to be the bedroom.

He pushed open the door, taking special care to be quiet, raising his wand so that the spell cast a gentle light over the room. Taking a few cautious steps inside he felt his breath catch slightly as the light glinted off long blond hair and then off two metal bands near the headboard.

Harry had to make a concerted effort not to let out a shocked gasp. He could tell that the young man in the bed was clearly sleeping, and even though he was facing away from the doorway he had no trouble recognising Scorpius. The metal bands were around his wrists, holding his hands above his head; his body was twisted slightly awkwardly so he could sleep on his side.

“Scorpius?” Harry was speaking softly so as not to alarm the boy.

The young man stirred from his sleep a little, his arms pulling against the metal bands slightly. The young Malfoy jumped when he realised he was no longer alone, his eyes wide; his restrained hands were just able to hold onto the duvet as he shuffled to sit up against the headboard, pulling the covers around himself as best he could.

“I am going to release these for you.” Harry indicated the boy’s wrists but Scorpius just continued to stare wordlessly. That look of pure fear on his face was worrying Harry a great deal and he wished he knew better how to comfort him.

Harry cast several spells to ensure that no alert spells had been placed on them, before he vanished the restraints. Scorpius rubbed at his newly freed arms and used them to pull the duvet more tightly around himself.

“You… you shouldn’t be here…” the young Malfoy managed to stammer out after a few moments and then fear seemed to return in full force, “you didn’t bring Al, did you?”

Confused by why this would be such a frightening thing for the blond, Harry reassured him, “No, it is just you and me, but I am going to write to Al and let him know I have found you and that you are going to be okay.” Harry went to the window, pulled the thick curtains to the side filling the room with light. He opened the window and his owl hopped onto the ledge; he had trained it to stay nearby when he was out on business.

                _Albus,_

_Found Scorpius in the London flat, he is safe._

_Love Dad_

He watched for a moments as the owl disappeared and then returned to take a seat on the side of the large bed. Scorpius was still hugging the covers against himself for comfort.

“Do you think you could tell me why you were restrained in a property owned by your father?” Harry tried to keep all the fury, he was feeling towards Draco, hidden.

Scorpius shook his head, there were tears on his face and he wouldn’t quite meet Harry’s eye.

“You know you are safe now right? I won’t hurt you or let anyone else hurt you.” Harry hoped Scorpius already knew this but he was not sure what the boy had been through since they had seen each other last.

Scorpius gave him an evaluating look but eventually nodded, the pair of them falling back into silence.

“How did you find me?” Scorpius asked quietly.

Harry smiled; he had been hoping that if he gave the boy some time he would feel comfortable enough to talk.

“Albus was worried about you. He refused to believe you would just stop writing, I am sorry to say that I didn’t exactly listen to him. When you didn’t turn up at school though, I confronted your parents and their story didn’t quite add up, so we searched all your father’s properties.”

Scorpius nodded his understanding and they fell back into the slightly tense silence again. It had been nearly half an hour since Harry had first arrived at the flat and he felt he should let the others know that he had found Scorpius. With thoughts of his family he summoned his stag patronus whispering a message to take to the others.

“So Scorpius, I have asked them to place your father under arrest, but in case they don’t find him straight away, I think it would be best if we weren’t here.” Harry was keen to get him somewhere safe but was not about to force him into something he wasn’t ready for.

“Yeah, okay,” he sounded reluctant, “but I need to explain, or at least show you, something first.”

“Of course,” Harry gave him a warm smile, “what is it? Is this to do with why you were here?”

Scorpius nodded and slowly detangled himself from his duvet. Harry couldn’t help it, he was staring, wide eyed and in shock, as Scorpius revealed his extended belly.

“Are…” Harry couldn’t believe he was going to say these words. “are you pregnant?”

Scorpius was looking determinedly out the window, unable to meet Harry’s eyes.

“I didn’t even know that was possible.” Harry exclaimed, still feeling disbelief.

“I didn’t know either, it is rare and not really something that is talked about. My father was just trying to protect our family from more shame.” Scorpius’ expression was one at sadness, he clearly felt he had let his father down and the sight was breaking Harry’s heart.

Unable to hide his annoyance Harry was almost growling when he spoke, “That is no reason to make you a prisoner; you don’t need to hide away.” Harry hoped his words offered at least some comfort, “Have you even been to see a healer since you found out?”

“No, I woke up here about three or four weeks into the holidays; father figured it out before I did and brought me here.”

“Okay, so first stop, St. Mungos.” Harry held out a hand to help the young pregnant boy get out of bed.

Scorpius managed to swing his legs around to that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, one hand in Harry’s, the other supporting his unborn child.

“Scorpius?” Both Harry and Scorpius fixed their eyes on the young man who had just appeared in the doorway

“Al?” Scorpius sounded breathless and tried to grab the duvet to cover his pregnant bump, all too late.

“Albus Severus Potter, what on earth are you doing here? You are supposed to be in school.” Harry scolded his son, but Albus’ attention was fixed completely on the blond sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Are... are you pregnant?” Albus seemed to be going into shock and had gone incredibly pale.

Scorpius met his eyes and nodded and watched in horror as Albus fainted.

“AL!” Harry and Scorpius cried out at the same time.

Harry rushed forward, indicating to Scorpius to stay where he was. He knelt down to where his son was out cold on the floor.

“He seems fine, just fainted.” He told Scorpius, who was now looking at Al with an expression which made Harry’s eyebrows rise.

“Why do I suddenly have a feeling that you and Al are not just friends and that I might be a grandfather a lot sooner than I planned?” Harry’s voice sounded more amused than annoyed, Scorpius still couldn’t help but blush, in effect confirming Harry’s suspicions.

This was not at all how he had imagined Al’s father finding out about them, but at least he was taking it well, far better than his own father had.

##

When Albus opened his eyes he saw his father leaning over him smiling.

“Hi Al, welcome back. You feeling okay? You did hit the floor kind of hard.”

“Yeah,” Al managed to sit up with a little help, “I just…”

Albus’ stopped mid sentence at the sight of the heavily pregnant Scorpius in front of him.

“So I didn’t just imagine that then? You really are pregnant?” The calm of Albus’ voice helped the reassure Scorpius, but he was still scared of what his boyfriend would have to say.

“I would have told you, I swear, but I never got a chance, I am so sorry Al.” Scorpius was speaking rapidly and was pleading.

Seeing the fear that flashed across Albus’ face when he realised that his father was in the room, Harry pulled him into a hug.

“It’s going to be okay. I know you are in shock right now but we will all get through this together, this makes Scorpius family now anyways. Right? No escaping once you’re a Potter.” Harry winked at Scorpius and Al sighed; trust his father to make jokes at a time like this.

Pulling back, Harry was delighted to see the smile he loved so dearly back on his sons face.

“Thanks Dad.” Albus said quietly.

“Of course, that’s what fathers are for.” He felt a spasm of guilt at his words; that was not how Draco felt about this situation or his son. “I need to set a good example for the pair of you now anyway, for how to be a great Dad, as it will be you soon enough.”

Albus felt his cheeks warm slightly as he blushed.

“Come on,” Harry pulled Albus to his feet and turned to help Scorpius manage the same. “Let’s get your boyfriend to St. Mungos and make sure both he and your kid are in good health.”

“My father has some books on male pregnancy in the other room, perhaps we should take those with us.” Scorpius suggested as they were about to leave.

Albus fetched them quickly and apparated them to the hospital

##

Scorpius had not been aware how good it would feel to get out of that room, the only times he had left it recently was to go bathroom accompanied by his father.

The sterile, clean, medical room at St. Mungos might not have been welcoming but the change of scenery was. Al had refused to let him out of his sight since they arrived in the hospital.

Apparently being with the Potters was the key to great medical care, you got treated quickly and by the best. Within twenty minutes of their arrival both he and the baby had been given clean bills of health. His father might not have wanted the world to know about his pregnancy but apparently he had at least still valued the health of his son and grandchild.

“Al…” Scorpius spoke softly to his boyfriend, who was in a chair next to the bed, staring into space.

“Hmm…?” Albus turned to face the blond, smiling as he gazed into the grey eyes he had missed so terribly.

“I did try to get away, you know… to come and find you.” Scorpius explained. “The first week I nearly managed to get out twice, that’s why he handcuffed me to the bed.”

“He did WHAT?” Albus was on his feet and looked ready to kill.

Scorpius looked shocked at the sudden rage and remembered that Harry had released the restraints long before Albus had arrived.

“Al… calm down… please.” Scorpius’ words draining some of the fury from the other boy. “He has already been arrested and I am safe now. I just didn’t want you to ever think that I abandoned you.”

“Oh Scorpius,” Albus was half smiling now and playfully punched his in the arm, “Sometimes you are really very stupid, I didn’t believe that for one second. As for your father he can go to Azkaban, the North Pole, or just home, I don’t much care, so long as he is never anywhere near you or our child ever again.”

Al crawled into bed next to Scorpius, it was a tight fit on the single bed but the closeness was completely worth it. The kiss they shared in that moment said all the things neither of them could find the words for, their hopes for the future and the passion they had missed in their three months apart.

_To Be Continued…._


	2. Part 2

The healers had decided to keep Scorpius in overnight and realising that Albus would not be leaving without him, a second bed had been  setup for him to sleep on, much to the disapproval of several of the healers who seemed to be viewing the pair of them as irresponsible teenage boys who should be doing what they were told.

It was almost midnight; Al was fast asleep and Scorpius was watching him lovingly, relishing in the sight of him so peacefully resting. He was distracted when the door to the room creaked slightly as it was slowly pushed open, alerting him to the presence of the person in the doorway.

"Oh, my baby boy." the person whispered.

“Mother?” He asked, he was unable to make out much more than a silhouette in the dim moonlight coming through the window but there was no mistaking her voice and it sounded like home.

“Are you okay?” Astoria asked her son as she moved towards his bedside, the moonlight falling over her face as she stepped forward.

Scorpius nodded and smiled sadly. Harry had told him about how his mother had been unaware of what his father was doing, believing that he had spent the summer travelling and then been at Hogwarts but he was still hurt though; had she not thought it was odd that she hadn’t heard from him in months, did she not miss him in his absence?

“I’m sorry," She said quietly, sounding every bit as sad as Scorpius looked. "I think… maybe… I should have known. I should have known that something was wrong but I couldn’t believe that your father would betray us like this,” His mother sighed almost imperceptibly, “...not after how his father treated him. I know he loves you and I just can’t see why he would do this.” She told him and he could see her tears when the moonlight reflected off them.

“I don’t think it was as bad as everyone is making out," Scorpius told her with a shrug, "I know what he did was wrong and I hate him for it but I do understand.” Scorpius sat himself up in the bed slightly, “He still lives in fear of Grandfather, in fear that society will shun us more than they already have. I think he acted out of a desire to protect me and our family but when I fought him on it he pushed back.” Scorpius looked sad, when he thought about it, he pitied that his father lived his life overwhelmed by such fear all the time.

“He lied to me about where you were; he lied to me about everything." Astoria said angrily, as she  brushed a hand over his hair in a conflictingly affectionate gesture. "He didn’t even give me a chance to protect you in my own way." She sounded betrayed and he supposed she had been.

“Would you have preferred that Father had told you the truth?" Scorpius asked her with a frown, "If you had had to choose between him and me?" He demanded of her, but it was obvious that she didn't have an answer. "However I am not going to forgive him. I can't... Albus won't be able to either."

Astoria nodded her understanding.

" Father made his own grave though, this has cost him his family; neither me nor Albus will accept him me or my family again.” Scorpius sounded stern, but he spoke quietly not wanting to wake Albus.

“Harry said that he….” Astoria swallowed slightly, struggling to speak the words, “… restrained you?”

Scorpius sighed at the confusion and disbelief in his mother’s voice, but nodded. “Not initially, but like I said, I fought back, I tried to escape, he felt he had no choice but to stop me." Scorpius felt the air catch in his throat as his emotions threatened to overwhelm. "I understand but don’t forgive.”

“Oh..." Astoria sounded on the verge of tears, "I understand, thank you for talking to me. I will _ALWAYS_ love you, my Scorpius; my precious baby boy.” She bent to give him a kiss on his forehead and he felt what was unmistakably a tear fall from her face to his.

Scorpius looked slightly confused, his grey eyes full of sadness and hurt “You're leaving?” he asked her.

“Well… I thought…but…" She said, stumbling over her words, "You just said…”

Scorpius smirked slightly, he couldn’t help it, this was the most ineloquent thing he had ever heard his mother say.

“I _AM_ a little mad at you for not taking more interest in where I was but I do not blame you." He assured her,  "But you are my mother, I really need you right now... please.” Scorpius’ voice was calm and he stared at her, as the glimpse of hope made a smile twitch at her lips.

“Of course I will stay if it is what you want." She told him, sounding relieved, "I really do love you more than anything in this world you know.” She kissed his forehead again. “We will figure this out; the Potters are good people and they will do right by you.”

Scorpius almost let out a yelp of surprise when his mother, in a most un-Malfoy like gesture, pulled him into a tight embrace; Scorpius let himself melt against her, revelling in this almost unprecedented moment of motherly affection.

“I love you too, Mother.” He whispered in her ear.

##

While Astoria had just been relieved to find out her son was okay and seemed to be accepting that she was about to be a grandmother fairly well, Ginny was a bit less quick with her understanding and support.

“Albus…. And Scorpius…?” Ginny asked for the third time; pausing her pacing up and down their living room, to glare at Harry as though it was his fault.

“Yes, Ginny.” Harry told her with exasperation, he was starting to feel a little annoyed; he too was freaking out, but his wife was taking so long to accept that their son was in a gay relationship he hadn’t even been able to tell her about the pregnancy yet.

“They are a couple?” Apparently Ginny was still thinking she must have misunderstood.

Harry just sighed and dropped his head into his hands, tugging at his own hair, hoping she would take that as a response.

“Ginny dear, I _REALLY_ need you to sit down and listen to me.” Harry insisted, his voice calm and did not allow for her refusal, so she sat.

They said nothing for a few moments, while Harry tried to figure out how on earth he was going to explain but Ginny took one look in her husband’s eyes and knew there was something more he had to tell her. “Harry…?” She was worried now.

“Okay, but please try not to completely freak out….” Harry took a deep breath and spoke quickly, before he chickened out. “Scorpius is pregnant with Albus’ child.”

Ginny blinked slowly, and shook her head as if trying to dislodge whatever must have been muddling her hearing.

"Ginny...?" Harry asked, clearly worried that his wife seemed to have gone into shock.

THUMP... Ginny had passed out and fallen off the sofa, making Harry glad he had at least made her sit down before telling her the news.

“Great…. Like mother, like son apparently." Harry grumbled, looking at his wife, who was out cold, "When do I get my moment to freak out about this?” he asked of nobody.

Harry carefully moved Ginny from the floor, so that she was lying down on the sofa and made sure she was comfortable before he sat down by her feet, his head in his hands as he waited for his wife to regain consciousness.

“Harry….” Ginny moaned groggily as she came to. “…did I hear you right?" she asked, "Please tell me this is a joke.” She sat up on the sofa wincing slightly as her head pounded. “Our little Albus can’t be about to be a Dad, he is just a baby.”

“Yeah, you heard me right,” Harry told her; his eyes were wide and voice shaky, showing that his anxieties about the whole situation, were as bad as Ginny’s. “but us… grandparents?” he sighed, that just sounded too weird.

“This is crazy…” Ginny said as she curled herself up against Harry's side on the sofa.

Pulling his wife close, he stroked her hair in an attempt to reassure them both. Harry was glad that she was at least not yelling.

"You're telling me." He agreed, "And you haven't seen him yet." Harry said with a nervous chuckle. “It will be okay, you know. They are going to need our support though; this is going to be anything but easy.”

“Yeah, I know, dear." Ginny said, "I can’t believe this though; it is a lot to take in for just one day.”

Harry sighed, "It sure is." he agreed.

 Albus’ parents sat in thought, trying to process the massive change their family was about to go through, all the help their middle child was certainly going to need in the upcoming months. They had nothing more to say and so just let themselves find comfort in each other’s embrace, as they sat in silence.

##

The next morning was a Saturday and the young men got a surprise visit from the Hogwarts headmaster, Professor Flitwick.

“Your situation is unusual, that is for sure but not without some precedence." He told them, "Other pregnant students have returned to school to complete their studies, and later managed to successfully balance child care and their education.”

“You mean I don’t have to leave school?” Scorpius asked hopefully and his voice made it clear that he felt as though he had been given back a piece of his old life he thought was lost to him, he reached over and took a tight grip on Albus' hand.

"We will do whatever we have to." Albus promised the headmaster, knowing how important Scorpius' education was to him.

“Arrangements can be made, with alternative living quarters for yourself and Mr Potter, so as not to cause disruption for other students and so Mr Potter can take care of you." Flitwick told them. "You will of course have to take responsibility for catching up with any work your situation has caused, or will cause, you to miss.”

Scorpius and Albus were already nodding their agreement.

"And it will be up to the pair of you to provide child care that will enable you to attend classes, once the baby is born."

The two teens looked nervous at that, "I am sure we can work something out, Love." Albus promised quietly, nodding to the professor to continue.

“I will, however, be removing your title of prefect, Mr Potter." Flitwick said almost sadly, "I cannot present your current situation as commendable. Not that I imagine that you will have time to properly attend to the duties.” he added with a smile.

Scorpius looked as though he believed this to be a terrible injustice but Albus was still smiling when he gave the professor a curt nod, he had already decided Scorpius and the baby came before everything else, giving up his position as a prefect was a no brainer as far as he was concerned.

“This is because we are gay, isn’t it?” Scorpius spat out with indignation, the expression on his face somewhere between angry and hurt.

Both Albus and the headmaster shared at him, looking shocked, but it was Professor Flitwick spoke calmly.

“Scorpius, obviously you are upset, but I assure you I have no issue with either your sexual orientation, or your relationship." Flitwick's gaze was sharp and bore into the blonde teen, "It is your teenage pregnancy I cannot endorse; despite it being an accident. Of course I will do whatever I can to help you two as best I can but you will have to put in the work.”

Scorpius had the good sense to look ashamed of himself and apologised nervously, with a red blush covering his cheeks. Albus placed a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s head and thanked the professor.

"You are welcome; you are both excellent students and wizards." Flitwick told them with a genuine smile, "Hogwarts would be sorry to lose either of you."

##

Scorpius was released from St. Mungos mid morning and accompanied  Al and his father to the Potter residence. Apparently Harry Potter had managed to pull a few strings and had been granted temporary guardianship of Scorpius during the ministry’s investigations.

Lily and James, Albus’ siblings, who were in their fourth and seventh years at Hogwarts, had also been given leave from school for the weekend, and though Scorpius knew them all well from his years of being Albus' friend, it was rather intimidating after his months of isolation, to be faced with the Potter family as a whole.

Ginny Potter was a kind woman; she had always treated Scorpius as if he were another of her children whenever he came to stay. This did mean he got roped into chores too but that never bothered him, just made him feel more included. So it was no surprise when she pulled him into a very motherly hug as soon as he walked through the door and it was a great comfort to see she wasn’t mad at him.

It seemed Mr Potter had had time to talk to his family about the situation and in all likeliness told them not to cause trouble because none of them even commented of on Scorpius’ obvious pregnancy; not even Albus’ older brother, James, who never normally missed a chance to make a joke or poke fun at his siblings.

“You can talk about it, you know.” Scorpius eventually said with a tone of amusement, during an awkward silence at dinner that evening. “It is kind of worse for me, and probably for Al too, when you pretend this isn’t happening.” Albus’ expression showed he agreed.

“Okay, I have to ask, how long have you two been… you know?” James asked with a smirk and it was obvious he had, as Scorpius suspected, been holding back questions.

“James!” Ginny exclaimed, sounding shocked at the forwardness of the question but in truth she knew her son well enough not to actually be surprised.

“Well, we have been seeing each other since the end of forth year,” Scorpius told him diplomatically, whilst using his fork to play with the food on his plate, “so about a year and a bit.” Apparently he was unable to resist the slight smirk he sent to Albus.

“Did the healers tell you how far along you are?” Ginny asked, her curiosity being egged on by Scorpius’ willingness to answer her son’s question.

“Nearly six months," he told her, "I must have been already about three months, when Father figured it out.”

“And you had no idea before then that something was going on?” Harry enquired, his voice completely free of any accusation.

“Oh... erm... Not really," Scorpius said looking slightly abashed, "I felt like I had flu for a couple of weeks and my appetite kept changing; I just assumed it was kept over from the flu thing. I wasn’t sleeping well either, “Scorpius shrugged, “and I guess that it all seems pretty obvious now, to be honest, but it simply never occurred to me.”

“We just didn’t even know it could happen.” Al tried to explain, a slight flush creeping into his cheeks, that matched the one on Scorpius' face.

“How are you coping with the idea of being a Dad, Al?” Lily asked.

“Nervous…” He responded quickly, then took a few seconds to think, “, but actually kind of excited too. Ever since I realised I was gay I felt a slight sadness knowing I might never get to be a father, but now…” A smile creeping onto his face, “now I feel like I am getting everything I ever dreamed of.”

Scorpius was gaping at him with adoration and surprise, Harry and Ginny watched their son with pride, Lily was giving the young couple a soppy look, as if she had never seen anything so cute and James was pretending to be sick.

This seemed to bring some degree of normality to the house, breaking the tension and allowing them all to enjoy a rather pleasant weekend. Both Albus and Scorpius were delighted to find the Potter family so accepting, even in all their anxieties about the future.

##

Come Monday morning Scorpius was starting to question his decision to return to Hogwarts. He was standing in front of the mirror in Albus’ room, his school robes adjusted to fit around his pregnant belly, feeling slightly freaked out by how much his appearance had changed in his time at the flat.

“You admiring how amazingly sexy you look right now?” Al asked, as he returned to their room half dressed, drying his hair roughly with a towel.

“It is really not nice to make fun of me like that, Albus," Scorpius snapped, "this is at least fifty percent your fault, you know.” he pointed out, sounding genuinely hurt.

Albus dropped the towel and made his way over to his boyfriend, standing behind him and wrapped his arms around where their child was growing. He kissed Scorpius’ neck, pulling a small gasp of pleasure from his lips and felt as his lovers hands tightly gripped on his arms.

“I wasn’t making fun." Albus told him sternly, "I honestly think you might just be the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on. Yes…” Albus went on when it seemed Scorpius was about to argue back, “…especially when you are pregnant.” He kissed his neck again and ran his hands over Scorpius’ belly.

Releasing his grip suddenly and giving Scorpius’ cute arse a quick gentle slap, Albus went back to getting dressed.

“Come on, you need to have some breakfast before we floo back to school.” Albus commanded and Scorpius couldn’t help but smile.

##

Nobody was pretending that returning to Hogwarts was going to be easy for Scorpius or Albus but they had the whole Potter/Weasley clan on their side and this would at least hopefully assure their safety should anyone react too badly.

The young Potters and Malfoy floo-ed into the headmaster’s office with ten minutes to get to their first class and Flitwick dismissed James and Lily but asked Albus and Scorpius for a few words.

“I have had one of the free teachers  private rooms converted for your use and all of your belongings have already been moved there." Flitwick told them, "You will find it behind the tapestry on the charms corridor.” The headmaster gave then a serious look before continuing. “The use of this room is a privilege, remember that, if I find you are not keeping up with your work or else causing trouble I will have no choice to return you both to your house dormitories or else expel you.”

Albus and Scorpius, nodding their understanding, had no delusions about how lucky they were to even be back at all and had no intentions of letting Professor Flitwick down; however the threat of being returned to their dormitories or expelled still made them nervous.

They had always been considered odd at school; for a Slytherin, like Scorpius Malfoy, and a Gryffindor, like Albus Potter, to become friends was thought to be very strange behaviour. They had been inseparable since they had been forced to work together on a transfiguration project in their second year and over the years the other students had come to accept that you didn't find one without the other.

It was not unusual, therefore, when Scorpius took a seat at the Gryffindor table, with Albus, at lunch that day but due to his nearly one month absence from the school and his now rather obvious pregnancy he still received stares from most of the school's students.

Their morning classes had been filled with whispers and glances in their direction, a couple of times Albus had had to almost literally bit his tongue to stop himself causing a scene, somewhat thankful for Flitwick’s threats to help him keep himself in line. At least once Scorpius had taken Al’s hand and given him a just-let-it-go smile and with deep breaths Albus had done so.

The professors had, of course, all been informed of the situation and were not taking any nonsense in their classrooms, demanding all students pay complete attention to their work and handing out detentions to those who insisted on gossiping or causing trouble.

That Scorpius was pregnant was common knowledge in the school by Monday dinner and even though almost no-one had been aware of the true nature of Albus and Scorpius’ relationship previously, many were assuming it was his child. If there was anyone who doubted  that Albus Potter was the other father, after the looks and touches witnessed on Monday, then Tuesday morning provided further proof, when they arrived at breakfast hand in hand; Albus placing a kiss on Scorpius’ temple before they started helping themselves to food.

In an unusual amount of inter-house chatter it became clear that neither of them had returned to their respective house dormitories to sleep, the previous night, and by Wednesday many students were up in arms about them receiving special accommodation.

By Friday so many rumours, of people planning to get pregnant to get similar treatment, or to find and ransack their living quarters, were flying around the school that Professor Flitwick was left with no choice by to step in. It was only due to their personal guard of family members that the two young men had had no trouble from those who disapproved of their situation.

“I wish to talk to you all about Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy.” The headmaster announced loudly from the front of the hall at dinner on Friday and all eyes turned to him, including the rather anxious looking faces of Albus and Scorpius.

“This is not a situation which they planned to find themselves in, nor is it going to be easy on either of them." Flitwick explained to the student population, "Pregnancy causes many complications in life and trying to complete an education at the same time is commendable.”Flitwick gave the two young men, sitting in a sea of Weasley red hair, a smile. “They have been given accommodation so that Mr Potter may offer the care due to any pregnant partner but also to allow them protection from anyone who might be holding onto the outdated stigma which male pregnancy holds.”

Flitwick unmistakably glanced at the Slytherin table at the words before continuing on.“This Pregnancy is their private business and they have been instructed to not let this interfere with their school work whenever possible. In return I expect ALL students to treat them with respect and allow them their privacy. That said I am sure they will be happy to answer some questions you may have.” He gave them another smile. “Knowledge leads to understanding and now…“ He waved his arms and dinner appeared, “… we eat.”

The silence in the room broke; everyone seemed to start talking at the same time, helping themselves to the food which had appeared.

“Well that was interesting. “ Rose Weasley chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Albus. “Were you aware he was going to do that?”

“No.” Al and Scorpius responded in unison, sounding mildly annoyed at having their lives spoken of so publicly.

“I can’t see it helping things much.” Fred chimed in from his seat next to James.

“Maybe it will just make people think before they act out or say something.” Molly said.

The cousins all rolling their eyes or sighing at her; she was a lot like her father in that she tended to play by the rules and was often surprised when not everyone else was, this time though they were all hoping she was right.

“Well we never expected this to be easy.” Albus pointed out.

“I am just glad so many have been so supportive.” Scorpius told them; he had a point, while there had been problems since his return, they had also had a great deal of support.

Most of the Gryffindors had shown something close to delight at hearing that Albus and Scorpius were to be parents and thought that having a baby around would be fun. Those who didn’t share that sentiment, were at least mostly understanding and had not posed any threat to either them or the pregnancy so far.

The Ravenclaws seemed to have mixed opinions, some declaring a school an unfit parenting environment, others complaining that it would impact the education of other students and a few thought that it was a fascinating opportunity to witness a rare male pregnancy develop and to see teen parenting first hand. A pragmatic approach to the situation that Scorpius admired a great deal.

The Hufflepuffs were kind and understanding and were the ones, apart from the extended Weasley extended, to offer them the most help. The Slytherins were something else all together; a large proportion of them had taken a dislike to Scorpius since his friendship with Albus started and now they wanted little more than trouble for the young couple, believing that they were being given an unfair advantage.

Of course these were generalisations and within all the houses there were those who were homophobic, against male pregnancy or simply just jealous of the things they had been given, be that the attention of so many or their private accommodation.

##

The weeks went on, and to everyone’s amazement, it seemed Molly was  at least somewhat right; they received less comments in the corridors, people stopped trying to prank them as much and the overall attitude towards them seemed to improve.  Whether this was due to Flitwick’s speech or just that they were old news and everyone was bored with them and their situation, they were not sure; either way they weren't going to complain about it.

It was mid October and the weather was getting noticeably colder, harsh winds whipped around the castle, encouraging all to stay indoors. Albus and Scorpius, however, had decided to face the weather and so were wrapped up warm on a Saturday lunchtime, as they headed across the grounds to visit Hagrid.

Hagrid was delighted at the idea of the baby and quickly promised that they could rely on him for his help, chuckling happily when Scorpius allowed him to feel the unborn child kicking. The half-giant had been one of the few that had know about Albus and Scorpius’ relationship having caught them making out, near the forest, part way through fifth year and had always been a source of support, even before that, when they had struggled with other people's opinions of their friendship.

“Your dad came to see me a couple of days ago, Al.” Hagrid told them, with a grin, “He is right proud of you two for coming back to school, you know. Though, he had a few choice words for me, when I let slip that I already knew you two were seeing each other.” Hagrid said, smiling in amusement at the memory and Albus had no trouble being able to picture his father letting out his frustrations on his old friend.

The two young men happily drank their tea and ate the sandwiches they had brought with them, knowing the usual standard of Hagrid’s cooking. They told tales of their time since returning to school and Hagrid babbled about a couple of new creatures he was hoping to be able to get hold of. The normality of the moment felt like a breath of fresh air; they had been doing this for years, just having lunch at the hut in the grounds and talking about life, just as Albus’ father had before him.

##

Scorpius was half asleep on their bed, feeling completely at peace as Albus gently rubbed his pregnant belly.

“How are we possibly going to manage classes when this little one is born?” Albus asked, “Have been thinking about it for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, I have too; I was thinking we could both drop a couple of subjects, so that there is nearly always one of us not in class.” Scorpius suggested

“That’s actually a pretty good idea if Professor Flitwick will agree to it, but what about transfiguration and charms, because I know we both will need them if we want any kind of career in the future.” Albus moved to lie down next to his boyfriend, resting his head on Scorpius’ shoulder.

“Well..." Scorpius said hesitantly, "I have a couple of ideas.” Scorpius told him and was glad that Albus wasn’t able to see the apprehension on his face.

“Really? Care to share?” Albus asked, propping himself up to look at Scorpius.

“Well… my mother has volunteered to babysit a couple of times a week, as did Hagrid." Scorpius pointed out, "... and we would only have to leave him or her alone with them for an hour or so at a time.”

“With your mother and Hagrid? You’re okay with that?” Albus asked, sounding and looking a little surprised.

Scorpius smirked, “Yeah Hagrid is a good guy.”

Albus looked unimpressed by Scorpius' clearly subversive answer. “It wasn’t Hagrid I was concerned about." he told him, "You and your mother still getting along well then?”

“Really well actually." Scorpius told him, "At least well enough that I would trust her with our little angel. She is excited about being a grandmother..." he grinned at his boyfriend who was watching him carefully for signs of doubt, "She is not my father and in truth I believe she is at least as pissed off at him as I am.” Scorpius explained with a wry smile.

Albus looked thoughtful for a few minutes before he conceded, “Well okay then, that sounds like a plan; I am sure if my Mum hears your mother is going to be getting to babysit she will insist on being given the same opportunity.” Albus said with a grin, knowing his mother would never let Astoria Malfoy get more time with their grandchild than her.

“We should let Professor Flitwick know about the plan.” Scorpius suggested, surprised how much more calm he felt about everything now they had a plan.

“Sure, I will talk to him tomorrow.” Albus promised, kissing Scorpius and then his belly. “Now you need to get some sleep.” Albus’ voice was a command.

“Okay, Love,” Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes at Albus' protective nature and turned onto his side, pulling Albus’ arm around him, “but you should sleep too.” he insisted.

Albus chuckled, he loved it when Scorpius tried to boss him around, even a little bit. “Night, I love you.” Albus whispered, with a smile into Scorpius’ long blond hair.

“Love you too, Al.” Scorpius replied sleepily, already beginning to drift off.

##

By the beginning of December Scorpius was struggling to physically even get to classes and all the professors had summoned comfortable arm chairs for him to sit in. He frequently would fall asleep in lessons and was no longer attending potions as he was unable to stand or focus long enough to complete anything.

Albus was doing all he could to help Scorpius with his work load, whilst also making sure everything was as easy as possible for his boyfriend, who looked tired all the time and just about ready to burst. It was hard for both of them and they were extremely anxious about the upcoming birth, even if they didn't admit it to anyone but each other.

Albus was awoken suddenly when Scorpius painfully grabbed hold of his arm, nails digging into his skin.

“Ouch.” He gasped out before he noticed the silent look of pain and fear on the other boy’s face, “What’s wrong?” Albus asked trying to force his voice to be calm.

“Pain….hurts…” were the only words Scorpius could manage and even those were gasped out with difficultly as he clung to Albus for comfort..

Willing himself not to panic, Albus tried to get him to identify where the pain was but Scorpius seemed to be unable to form rational thoughts.

“Okay, let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.” Albus suggested after only a few seconds when it became obvious that they needed help.

The pain seemed to ease slightly and the blond nodded his agreement. Albus helped him to his feet, apologising when Scorpius winced with discomfort and they managed to slowly make their way across the room with Albus supporting him as best he could.

Weeks earlier a direct link floo connection had been set up between the fireplace in their room and the one in the medical wing, they had questioned whether it was really required at the time but at that moment Albus felt very grateful for it.

“Medical wing.” He said clearly, throwing floo powder into the fire, transporting both himself and Scorpius . “Madam Pomfrey!” he called out loudly, as soon as they stepped out into the large ward.

“Mr Potter? … Oh my… Mr Malfoy!” The school’s healer had appeared quickly and came rushing over to them.

She was wearing a night gown and Albus realised for the first time it was the middle of the night or at least sometime in the early hours of the morning.

”He is in a lot of pain, is he okay?” Albus asked; his voice was shaking as they lay Scorpius’ in a nearby bed.

“Yes, I believe he may just be going into labour slightly earlier than we hoped. Both Scorpius and the baby should be fine.” She added at the look of panic on Albus’ face, her calm tone not helping him feel any more relaxed about what was happening.

“What should I do?” Albus asked, sure that had never felt so helpless in his whole life.

Scorpius was moaning with the pain, reaching  desperately for Albus, squeezing the hand that Albus put in his tightly .He only stopped when Madam Pomfrey helped him down a vial of what seemed to be some kind of pain relief potion.

“Just stay with him, keep holding his hand." Madam Pomfrey told him, "That is all you can really do at the moment. I need to contact St. Mungos, this requires more specialised care. I will only be a few minutes.” She reassured him.

Albus took a seat next to Scorpius’ bed and let his boyfriend crush his hand without complaint and sure enough the nurse returned with another healer a few minutes later. She was a short elderly woman, with wild yellow curls and a joyful smile that went all the way to her sparkly blue eyes.

“Okay, let’s see where we are at then lad.” The new healer said as she cast a couple of spells wordlessly. “Okay well the pain is because your magic is struggling to make the necessary changes to your body fast enough, I am going to help that along then you should be able to have a normal birth.” She seemed completely calm.

Scorpius however looked terrified and Albus’ face had drained of all colour.

“Wait… you mean tonight?” Albus asked.

“Yep, that’s what’s happening. You two are going to become fathers today, congratulations.” The elderly healer told them, her words doing nothing to ease their now quite overwhelming anxieties.

“Scorpius?” Astoria was rushing to her son’s side; Madam Pomfrey had contacted her immediately after St. Mungos.

“Mum.” Scorpius strangled cry was as frightening to Albus as seeing him in this much pain, so full of fear, as it was.

“It’s okay baby, I am here.” She took his other hand and stroked his hair, which was damp with sweat, as she took a seat on his bed with him.

“I am so scared.” Scorpius was literally crying and all Al could do was hold onto his hand as tightly as possible.

“Okay, anatomically you are able to give birth now,” the St. Mungos healer told him, “I am going to assist you magically a little, but most of this is going to have to be you, okay?” She met Scorpius’ eyes and gave him a smile. “So next time you feel pressure I want you to trust yourself and push.”

Scorpius nodded, sobbing slightly and looking honestly terrified; it was only a few moments later when the pressure came and he did as he was instructed. Albus was so glad for the speed of male labour as he was not sure he could stand watching the man he loved in pain for hours.

After twenty minutes or so Scorpius was dripping with sweat, his blond locks spread over his pillow as Albus had untied it from its usual braid when Scorpius had yelled that it was hurting lying on it. The labour was progressing well and they were all praising Scorpius' efforts, to which he was yelling back a quite impressive assortment of insults; largely directed at Albus who was taking that in stride.

 When the healer announced that she could see the head, Scorpius let out a whimper willing it all to end.

"Almost there, Love; I am so proud of you, just a tiny bit longer." Albus promised.

Scorpius yelled as he pushed hard, forcing his child from his body, sobbing with relief when he felt the pressure disappear and cry filled the room and within a few moments the healer was laying a beautiful baby boy into Scorpius’ arms. Tears of joy fell down Albus’ face and he made no move to remove or hide them; he was a father, they were fathers.

“I am just going to heal you up, okay.” The healer told him and Scorpius winced slightly when she cast her spell but otherwise ignored her as he was distracted by the bundle in his arms, unable to look away from the tiny person who he had created.

“Oh wow, Al; look at him, he is perfect.” Scorpius said.

He was grinning from ear to ear, exhausted but free from pain thanks to the work of the healer. The baby was crying but that was okay, it just meant that their son was really alive and the pair of them marvelled at how much they loved him already.

“Yes… he is.” Astoria agreed, “He looks so much like you Al.”

Scorpius chuckled, they could see what she meant and felt his heart burn with the unconditional love he felt for their son, the little boy who was half him, half Albus, his tiny face screwed up as he cried.

“Is that the scream of my grandchild I hear?” Harry asked as he entered the medical wing. “I thought you guys were at least going to wait till after Christmas to make me feel really old.”

“Dad.” Al jumped to his feet and ran to hug his father, the pair of them wearing matching grins as they wrapped their arms around each other.

Scorpius handed their little boy to Albus, who seemed to be stuck with a smile on his face. He was just showing him to Harry when Ginny, James and Lily came to join them and the Potter family all stood less than a foot from Scorpius’ bed, cooing over the little baby boy.

Scorpius momentarily felt a pang of jealousy till his own mother, who had not moved from where she sat next to him, pulled him close and whispered, “That’s your family too now, no need to be jealous.”

As if right on cue Lily took the seat at the side of his bed, “Well guess we really are family now then and that little boy of yours is going to be a heart breaker, I can already tell.”

“Well I am sure his Aunt Lily will teach him every trick in the book.” Scorpius shot back happily.

“Does he have a name?” Ginny asked when Albus finally agreed to let her hold the baby.

“Not yet, we thought we had more time.” Scorpius said with a laugh, “Should have known better than to think that any child of Al’s would do things on anyone else’s schedule.”

Albus frowned at this but everyone laughed, and after a few seconds Albus was laughing too.

##

Scorpius was recovering well and their new born son was in excellent health, so after they had eaten an early dinner, Madam Pomfrey gave the young family permission to return to their private quarters.

The Potters and Astoria had been reluctant to leave the room let alone the school, but, as Albus pointed out, it was only one week till they would be home for Christmas and then they would be able to spend as long as they wanted with the family’s newest addition.

Astoria had been invited to join the Potter/Weasley Christmas festivities, given that her son and grandson would already be in attendance and she was basically an extended part of the family now whether she or anyone else liked it; as it happened she generally got on pretty well with the Potters.

They had all eaten a small lunch together in the ward, passing their tiny son between the various family members and Madam Pomfrey had shown the new fathers how to brew a simple potion to feed their son; it was quiet emotional for the new parents, watching him happily gulp down his food from a bottle. They had enjoyed their family being around, loving watching them dote over their son but felt some relief when they were finally able to be alone with their child.

“I was thinking we should give him a simple name and definitely something that can be easily shortened.” Scorpius suggested.

They were sitting on their bed; Scorpius’ head resting on Al’s chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, the baby was asleep in the young Malfoy’s arms.

“Yeah, never really been able to shorten your name," Albus told him with a chuckle, "I think it would probably annoy me something silly if everyone called me Albus all the time.” Albus thought for a few moments then asked, “Is there anyone we want to name him after?”

“No, well… maybe," Scorpius bit his lip and stroked a thumb gently over the soft skin of his son's tiny cheek, "I was kind of thinking that he could have Rubeus as his middle name though and Hagrid as his godfather.”

“Really?” Al asked, slightly surprised at his boyfriend’s suggestion.

“Yeah..." Scorpius told him, "You don’t want to?” Scorpius asked, unable to hide his disappointment; he had thought that Albus would be delighted. “It is just that he has been so good to us and was so supportive right from the beginning, before anyone else even knew and...”

“No, no..." Albus interrupted, "I was just surprised you suggested it, that’s all; I love the idea.” Albus told him happily, placing a kiss on the top of the blond boy’s hair, which was now back in its usual plait.

“Now we just need to find a first name to go with it.” Scorpius said with a chuckle, he realised now perhaps this was something they should have talked about earlier.

“How about Sebastian?” Albus suggested, “I know it isn’t exactly the simple name we were looking for, but I just like it, and we could call him Seb or Sebby.”

“Sebastian Rubeus Potter-Malfoy.” Scorpius smirked, “So much for a simple name. That is quite a mouthful, but I like it though.”

“It isn’t much more of a mouthful that Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy or Albus Severus Potter and if we ever got married his name would be less of a mouthful than either of ours.” Albus froze when he realised what he had said but Scorpius seemed not to have minded.

“You have a point; I quite like the sound of Albus Severus Potter-Malfoy.” Now Scorpius was definitely smirking. “Albus, Scorpius and Sebastian, do we sound like a family to you?”

Wrapping his arms tightly around Scorpius, Albus pulled him close. “We sound like the perfect little family.”

“Welcome to the world Sebastian, we are your Dads and we love you oh so very much.” Scorpius told his son.


End file.
